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Air National Guard director addresses future of 188th, 189th in command visit

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Keith Moore
  • Arkansas National Guard Public Affairs
FORT SMITH, Ark. --  Commanders of the Arkansas Air National Guard's wings at Fort Smith and at Little Rock Air Force Base hosted a command visit by Lt. Gen. Harry "Bud" Wyatt III, director of the Air National Guard on Jan. 18-19.

The objective was to receive a status update on the 188th Fighter Wing in Fort Smith and the 189th Airlift Wing in Little Rock. Wyatt met with leadership from the 188th and Arkansas National Guard as well as Fort Smith mayor Sandy Sanders and a host of other City of Fort Smith officials.

Wyatt learned about the capabilities of the 188th, an A-10C Thunderbolt II unit, and also was able to take a helicopter to view the 188th's Detachment 1 Razorback Range located at Fort Chaffee Maneuver Training Center. Wyatt was able to observe an exercise involving the 188th's A-10s and the 188th Security Forces.

After touring both the 188th and 189th's facilities as well as associated training areas and airspaces, the general noted the caliber of the total package as "national treasures."

"What you all have here in Arkansas, in the units at Little Rock, those in Fort Smith and with the related Army National Guard and the capabilities the Guard brings for the Governor; and the training ranges that you have - not to mention the other services that take advantage of the training opportunities here - you really do have a national treasure," Wyatt said.

The general lauded many great aspects about the Fort Smith unit and the support it has from the surrounding community. He pointed out the strong manning of capable and professional Airmen, outstanding leadership and the cost savings that the unit provides regarding cost of training and the capability an A-10 unit can provide.

"The strengths and benefits of [the 188th] speak for themselves," said Wyatt. "But at this point it is difficult to say what the future of that unit is - but we should know very soon. Everyone wants to keep the A-10 mission there. But regardless of the outcome, they are very well capable of adapting to any mission the Air Force has planned for them."

After touring both the 188th and 189th, Wyatt, a former adjutant general of the Oklahoma National Guard from 2003-09, told a joint meeting of the two Little Rock-area community councils that there is considerable "turbulence" ahead for all the services as the president's 2013 budget is released in early February.

"The great part about getting out of [Washington] D.C. - other than being outside of D.C. - is visiting bases like this and getting to meet the airmen who do the work, and the community councils supporting those bases," Wyatt said. "Meeting these Airmen keeps me energized and fired up to keep working for our Airmen everyday back in D.C."

In delivering his comments to the gathered community and military leaders, Wyatt took a low- key approach and rather than deliver a prepared speech he preferred to give a brief overview of some key issues, and then take questions from the crowd. Upon beginning he reminded the group that he was bound by a non-disclosure agreement, and apologized if some answers to questions might seem somewhat void of specifics.

President Barack Obama's Jan. 5 release of the nation's new National Military Strategy for the force of 2020 sent shockwaves Air Force-wide, reverberating the key question: What will the Air Force and the Air National Guard of the future look like?

Wyatt noted that the release of the president's 2013 budget plan set for early February will provide considerable insight into not only the force structure of the future, but also leadership and guidance on how to implement the strategy.

"There may be considerable angst, but I think there will be considerable opportunity as we evolve our national military strategy," said Wyatt. "The Chief of Staff of the Air Force has already said we will have to become a smaller but more capable Air Force. The application of this evolution will affect all three components - active, Reserve and Guard."

The general explained that he agreed with the approach in that making sensible adjustments to units in all three components, driven by the concept of matching force structure to mission as outlined in the national military strategy, was the right decision.

"The goal is not to let our force structure be shaped by the budget, but rather by the strategy for the way ahead," said Wyatt.

The general described the uncertain time ahead where units, commanders, political leaders and Congress will deal with the implementation of the critical budget reduction measures as "the hurricane of change."

"Looking forward at the 2013-2017 fiscal years, the turbulence will be heavy, but the important thing to consider is what condition you are in when you come out the other side of that hurricane," said Wyatt. "We want to emerge as a more capable force, at the unit level, than when we went into the storm. To do this, there are some efficiencies that we can take advantage of in the AF, but we also need to look at divesting ourselves of mission sets that will be declining in the out years, and shift those personnel to mission sets that will be growing in the future."

In answering questions following his address, Wyatt said a couple of the key principles of the new national military strategy for the Air Force will be reversibility and a lack of tiered readiness.

Reversibility, he explained, is a concept of force structure for conflicts that utilizes the Guard and Reserve forces to surge needed capability, but allows the nation to quickly reverse course and draw down, thereby reducing the costs associated with maintaining a large full time force.

Tiered readiness is a concept where the active, Reserve and Guard have different levels of training requirements and standing readiness posture. This, Wyatt noted, is a bad idea and will not be considered in the Air Force management strategy. All components will continue to maintain the same levels of training and readiness.

One emerging trend resulting from international belt tightening is the idea of national and military partnerships. These partnerships among nations for enhanced security are quickly growing. Ironically, Wyatt points out, the National Guard has had a program called State Partnership Program - where each state's National Guard partners with the military of a sister nation for training and development. This partnership allows commanders to leverage what both sides can bring to the fight - should it be necessary to combat a common enemy or manage a natural disaster.

Air National Guard director addresses future of 188th, 189th in command visit

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Keith Moore
  • Arkansas National Guard Public Affairs
FORT SMITH, Ark. --  Commanders of the Arkansas Air National Guard's wings at Fort Smith and at Little Rock Air Force Base hosted a command visit by Lt. Gen. Harry "Bud" Wyatt III, director of the Air National Guard on Jan. 18-19.

The objective was to receive a status update on the 188th Fighter Wing in Fort Smith and the 189th Airlift Wing in Little Rock. Wyatt met with leadership from the 188th and Arkansas National Guard as well as Fort Smith mayor Sandy Sanders and a host of other City of Fort Smith officials.

Wyatt learned about the capabilities of the 188th, an A-10C Thunderbolt II unit, and also was able to take a helicopter to view the 188th's Detachment 1 Razorback Range located at Fort Chaffee Maneuver Training Center. Wyatt was able to observe an exercise involving the 188th's A-10s and the 188th Security Forces.

After touring both the 188th and 189th's facilities as well as associated training areas and airspaces, the general noted the caliber of the total package as "national treasures."

"What you all have here in Arkansas, in the units at Little Rock, those in Fort Smith and with the related Army National Guard and the capabilities the Guard brings for the Governor; and the training ranges that you have - not to mention the other services that take advantage of the training opportunities here - you really do have a national treasure," Wyatt said.

The general lauded many great aspects about the Fort Smith unit and the support it has from the surrounding community. He pointed out the strong manning of capable and professional Airmen, outstanding leadership and the cost savings that the unit provides regarding cost of training and the capability an A-10 unit can provide.

"The strengths and benefits of [the 188th] speak for themselves," said Wyatt. "But at this point it is difficult to say what the future of that unit is - but we should know very soon. Everyone wants to keep the A-10 mission there. But regardless of the outcome, they are very well capable of adapting to any mission the Air Force has planned for them."

After touring both the 188th and 189th, Wyatt, a former adjutant general of the Oklahoma National Guard from 2003-09, told a joint meeting of the two Little Rock-area community councils that there is considerable "turbulence" ahead for all the services as the president's 2013 budget is released in early February.

"The great part about getting out of [Washington] D.C. - other than being outside of D.C. - is visiting bases like this and getting to meet the airmen who do the work, and the community councils supporting those bases," Wyatt said. "Meeting these Airmen keeps me energized and fired up to keep working for our Airmen everyday back in D.C."

In delivering his comments to the gathered community and military leaders, Wyatt took a low- key approach and rather than deliver a prepared speech he preferred to give a brief overview of some key issues, and then take questions from the crowd. Upon beginning he reminded the group that he was bound by a non-disclosure agreement, and apologized if some answers to questions might seem somewhat void of specifics.

President Barack Obama's Jan. 5 release of the nation's new National Military Strategy for the force of 2020 sent shockwaves Air Force-wide, reverberating the key question: What will the Air Force and the Air National Guard of the future look like?

Wyatt noted that the release of the president's 2013 budget plan set for early February will provide considerable insight into not only the force structure of the future, but also leadership and guidance on how to implement the strategy.

"There may be considerable angst, but I think there will be considerable opportunity as we evolve our national military strategy," said Wyatt. "The Chief of Staff of the Air Force has already said we will have to become a smaller but more capable Air Force. The application of this evolution will affect all three components - active, Reserve and Guard."

The general explained that he agreed with the approach in that making sensible adjustments to units in all three components, driven by the concept of matching force structure to mission as outlined in the national military strategy, was the right decision.

"The goal is not to let our force structure be shaped by the budget, but rather by the strategy for the way ahead," said Wyatt.

The general described the uncertain time ahead where units, commanders, political leaders and Congress will deal with the implementation of the critical budget reduction measures as "the hurricane of change."

"Looking forward at the 2013-2017 fiscal years, the turbulence will be heavy, but the important thing to consider is what condition you are in when you come out the other side of that hurricane," said Wyatt. "We want to emerge as a more capable force, at the unit level, than when we went into the storm. To do this, there are some efficiencies that we can take advantage of in the AF, but we also need to look at divesting ourselves of mission sets that will be declining in the out years, and shift those personnel to mission sets that will be growing in the future."

In answering questions following his address, Wyatt said a couple of the key principles of the new national military strategy for the Air Force will be reversibility and a lack of tiered readiness.

Reversibility, he explained, is a concept of force structure for conflicts that utilizes the Guard and Reserve forces to surge needed capability, but allows the nation to quickly reverse course and draw down, thereby reducing the costs associated with maintaining a large full time force.

Tiered readiness is a concept where the active, Reserve and Guard have different levels of training requirements and standing readiness posture. This, Wyatt noted, is a bad idea and will not be considered in the Air Force management strategy. All components will continue to maintain the same levels of training and readiness.

One emerging trend resulting from international belt tightening is the idea of national and military partnerships. These partnerships among nations for enhanced security are quickly growing. Ironically, Wyatt points out, the National Guard has had a program called State Partnership Program - where each state's National Guard partners with the military of a sister nation for training and development. This partnership allows commanders to leverage what both sides can bring to the fight - should it be necessary to combat a common enemy or manage a natural disaster.